"Apps are like cable channels - closed, proprietary, and cleaned-up experiences," Susan Crawford, former White House technology adviser, and now a professor at Harvard, said in the report.

"I don't want the world of the Web to end like this. But it will, because people's expectations have been shaped by companies that view them as consumers. Those giant interests will push every button they can: fear, inexperience, passivity, and willingness to be entertained. And we'll get a cleaned-up world that we can be perfectly billed for. It's not good."